State v. Norris

Parks, J.:

Defendant, Donald E. Norris, appeals a jury conviction of indecent liberties with a child. K.S.A. 21-3503.

This appeal raises a question of first impression concerning the manner in which the trial court submits its instructions to the jury. In an attempt to accommodate defense counsel, the court did not instruct the jury before closing arguments. Neither the prosecutor nor defense counsel objected to the omission prior to giving their closing arguments and both attorneys referred to the instructions during their argument. At the conclusion of the arguments, the following colloquy…